Bowhunter brings you expert advice from legendary Bowhunters! Each issue is filled with updates from major bowhunting organizations, coverage of bowhunting locations across North America, complete coverage of the sport and much more.
I’M NOT A MORNING PERSON; like, really not a morning person. This presents a real challenge as a bow-hunter, and I’ve often said the hardest part of any hunt is simply getting out of bed. When I set an early-morning alarm so I can get in the field before sunrise, my first inclination is to hit the snooze button. Then, when the alarm sounds the second time, I have to give myself a prolonged mental “pep talk” until I muster the strength to swing my legs to the side and put my feet on the floor. Honestly, if I can just get that far, whatever else the day has in store is typically a piece of cake. Here’s another confession: I also hate being cold, and when brutally cold weather…
I TURNED THE FOCUS DIAL on my 10x40 binocular. Far below, the telltale tan side of an elk moved in the half-light of dawn. Seconds later, the crisp image through my glass showed a burly body topped by massive antlers. Even at half a mile away, the rack was impressive. All six tines per side were long — including the thirds, which are often short on mature bulls. The canyon below me dropped off with a near-vertical high dive inches in front of my toes. Starting a stalk would require me to hike away from the edge, make a big circle and drop into the gorge near its head. After hard hunting for more than a week, I had only seen two branch-antlered bulls. Early September 2024 was unusually warm,…
BOWHUNTERS have a legal and ethical responsibility to care for the meat they harvest. The first step is never shooting an animal in a place where retrieval is questionable. During early archery seasons, warm weather can quickly spoil a carcass, and predators such as bears might move in to eat your prize. After you drop an elk, deer or other big game animal, you should quickly field dress and butcher it to ensure surface-drying air circulation and rapid cooling. You should always carry a sharp knife, knife sharpener, bone saw and hoisting rope in your pack to allow butchering on the spot. Moisture and heat are the culprits that cause meat to sour. Drying and cooling meat retards destructive bacterial growth. Hang quarters in the shade if possible, or prop…
WHAT’S FUNNY TO ME about the theme of this article is that I know some old-timers — perhaps some even older than me — might think to themselves, “What is Fred going to tell me that I didn’t already know?” Well, read on Doubting Thomases, because I think all new traditional shooters should be aware of the facts. These are the things that weren’t mentioned to me or other friends when we made the decision to go to a traditional bow. When I started shooting traditional, it was because I genuinely loved it. I shot more arrows for fun, and I didn’t take shooting the center of the bull’s-eye so seriously like I did with a compound. I also loved the simplicity of a recurve or longbow, and I still…
THE PURPOSE of this column is to create a place for me to pass along as many lessons as I can from a life spent bow-hunting. With that in mind, I am going to jump right to the top of the list. Here are the most important lessons I have learned about bowhunting strategy and making the shot. Hunting Strategy Game animals are hard to kill if they know they are being hunted. Keeping them from knowing is the key to bowhunting success. This simple truth should find its way into every corner of your hunting strategy, down to the smallest detail. How this affects success can be something as innocent as where you park or something as obvious as how well you play a swirling wind when hunting around…
APPROACHING THE CREST of the ridge, I looked up to see a cow elk coming from the opposite direction. Our eyes locked, and we both froze. As the stare-down commenced, white tines materialized a few yards behind the cow, appearing to grow from the ground as the bull fed its way over the ridgeline. The tines grew and grew and grew until the colossal bull was finally in full view. I quickly realized this was, by far, the largest bull I’d ever encountered with bow in hand. With the cow at 30 yards and staring right at me, I prayed my bow-mounted elk decoy would prevent her from spooking. The relief was overwhelming when she eventually lowered her head and continued feeding in my direction. If she continued her course,…
